Flight of the Raven
by Kelsey TVS
Summary: basically, it's OotP from Terry Boot's point of view. rated T for language later on. Absolutely canon with no made up characters. PLEASE REVIEW!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The clock was ticking agonizingly slow. Terry Boot kept glancing at his own watch, not trusting the clock in Professor Umbridge's classroom. He hadn't read a word of the textbook, and was itching to take out his wand and practice a few spells. He didn't know if Harry Potter or Umbridge was right about the whole you-Know-Who thing, but lately he was inclined to believe Harry, simply because he hated their teacher so much. Terry glanced sideways at his best friend Anthony, who was busy vandalizing his copy of _Defensive Magical Theory_ with his quill.

"Let's not have any wandering eyes," Umbridge called out. "Focus on your reading." Terry glanced up to see her looking at him, and he hastily returned to staring blankly at his book. After what seemed like several more hours, the bell rang. Most of the students jumped up immediately and raced out, but Terry, being half asleep had to force himself back into wakefulness, dump his books back in his back and stump out of the room with Anthony.

They headed down to dinner in the Great Hall, allowing themselves to be shunted along the corridors. On the second floor Anthony bade Terry goodbye and slipped away to Charms Club.

Terry made his solitary way down the rest of the castle and to the Ravenclaw table. He grabbed a sandwich off the nearest silver platter and glanced around. Michael corner was sitting a few seats away, tucking so enthusiastically into a bowl of soup that he was splashing his neighbors. Roger Davies was sulking a little ways along the table, glaring at Cho Chang, who was gazing over at the Gryffindor table, looking troubled. After a moment, Roger got up and left, glancing back at Cho once or twice. Several other Ravenclaws leaped up when they saw him leaving and followed quickly. Terry wondered why for a moment, but shrugged it off and continued eating.

After dinner, Terry was sloping back up to Ravenclaw tower, so bored that he was actually counting the steps on the staircase he was climbing when he bumped into someone. Looking up, he saw it was— he fished his brain for her name but couldn't think of it. She had curly red hair and he knew she was friends with Cho, but had no idea who she was. _This is going to bug me all day._ He thought.

"Hi. Sorry." He said automatically. The girl straightened her robes and glared at him. Terry bit his lip, trying to think of what to say. "Ummm…where's Cho?" He finally asked. The girl sniffed.

"She ditched me, like, and hour ago for those stupid Quidditch tryouts. No one really _cares _about Quidditch. I mean, we're in sixth year, it's getting a little old, right?" She looked expectantly at him, but Terry had stopped listening after the word 'tryouts'. Of course! He knew he'd forgotten something! Trials were today! That's why a bunch of people followed Roger when he left the table!

"Yeah, that's great but I—" He was already halfway down the corridor before he finished his sentence.

Once he reached the top of Revenclaw tower, Terry skidded to a halt, facing the door knocker. "Go! Come one, ask me the question!"

"Who founded Gringott's wizard bank?" Terry was surprised at the rather easy question. Usually he stood there for minutes, wishing they just had a simple password like the other houses.

"A Goblin named Gringott." He replied. The door swung open and he hurtled through it. He leaped over a couch that a seventh year was actually lying down on and dashed past Mandy Brocklehurst and Lisa Turpin, who waved at him. Taking the stairs two at a time, Terry shoved his way into the dormitory. Anthony was still at Charms, so it was empty except for Michael Corner, who had spread out his homework over the entire floor. Terry dove for his trunk, scattering Michael's papers everywhere. He grabbed his Nimbus, the model just before the Nimbus 2000 and dashed back to the common room. Once he landed on the thick midnight carpet, Terry began to sprint full out, but then he caught sight of Chambers and Bradley, who had just walked through the door.

"Just made the team!" Bradley called out loudly. There was a smattering of applause and a few people slapped them on the back. Terry felt a rush of anger at himself. Of course Bradley made it. He had been trying out since his first year, and he had gotten really good. Now, finally, in his sixth year he had made it. Terry didn't know Chambers too well, except that he was in fourth year, and unbelievably dull for a Ravenclaw. Terry also knew he played Chaser. And of course, Captain Davies would be the third Chaser. Terry threw his broom down angrily, lifted a first year out of a nearby armchair and flopped down, scowling.

_Author's Note: Sorry this Chapter's a little short. I'm just getting the story going. It'll get longer and more interesting._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Terry, man, get over it." Terry shrugged moodily as Michael punched his arm. Anthony and Michael had been trying to cheer him up since he missed tryouts, and he was determined to sulk. He had found ways to vent, though. He had taken to bringing out his wand in Defense Against the Dark Arts and using it to levitate bits of parchment into Professor Umbridge's hair. His acts had earned him detention that night at eight, but he hardly cared.

By now Terry was entirely fed up with the Ministry witch, and he was certain that Harry Potter was in the right. He and the other Ravenclaw boys were walking to Double Transfiguration with the Gryffindors, and Terry spotted the Potter kid standing outside the classroom, frowning and looking at the floor as the Weasley boy and Hermione Granger muttered to each other and shooting glances at him. Terry had heard that Harry was very snippy lately, but he approached him anyway.

"Harry." He said. Potter's head snapped up. Terry ploughed on. "I just wanted to tell you that I believe you. It's easy to tell that the Ministry are morons with one glance at toad-face."

"Thanks, Terry." Potter said, with a small smile. The smile faded in an instant though as he saw something over Terry's shoulder. Before he could turn around, terry felt thick fingers gripping him at the part of his body where his neck met his shoulders. It is an extremely painful place to be gripped, and Terry shuddered quickly out of the grasp of Umbridge and spun around to face her.

"We'll make that another two days of detention then, shall we?" She simpered. Terry longed to run his fist right into her flabby face, but he settled for throwing her a filthy look before turning back to his friends.

For all of Transfiguration Terry was distracted, wondering what on earth Umbridge could have in store for him. From her reputation, he assumed that it would be something boring and repetitive, like filing papers or lines. But no teachers did lines anymore. The student would just zone out and not remember what they were writing over and over again, and so the teachers found it ineffective and dropped the punishment years ago.

Terry found himself dragging his feet across the common room towards the door at five to eight silently cursing Umbridge and the whole Ministry. He and Michael had been having a heated game of chess when Anthony pointed out the time. Leaving Anthony to his homework and Michael clearing away the chess pieces, Terry left the room. When he opened the door he found a second year boy begging the door knocker to let him in.

"I don't know, okay! I honestly—" he broke off as Terry pushed the door open. "Oh, thanks!" he said to Terry before scurrying past him.

"Ravenclaw's aren't what they once were, boy." The door knocker called to Terry as he started down the stairs. "I can tell you, since the days of the founders, standards have gone down, yes sirree." He continued babbling until Terry was out of earshot.

On the way down the Umbridge's office, he passed Professors Sprout and Flitwick, who in the middle of a conversation. Terry caught snippets of it as he walked by.

"Yes, I saw her dashing up the Dumbledore's office with the paper just now!" Sprout was saying.

"High Inquisitor, I say!" Flitwick exclaimed. "This Ministry ordeal is going to be the death of all the staff here!"

Terry knocked on the office door when he got there, but there was no answer. He tried the handle and when that didn't work he used his wand, but even Alohamora didn't open it. He suspected that Sprout and Flitwick were talking about Umbridge, so she would probably still be in Dumbledore's office. He sat down with his back against the door and dug through his bag until he found his Charms textbook, which was very interesting for a textbook. He started to read, wishing he had objects to try out spells on with him.

He had lost track of time when Umbridge finally showed up with an evil grin on her hideous face. She spotted him and stopped in her tracks.

"Oh, Boot! You had detention, is that right?" She looked happier than Terry had ever seen her. "Why don't we just wave tonight's detention until tomorrow? It's too late now."

"I also have a detention tomorrow."

"Then push that one to Friday, Boot." She sounded irritated now, as if he should have assumed that himself. Of course, Terry had, but he wanted to clear it with her first.

And so it was nine o'clock on a Wednesday night that Terry finally started on his homework. He had only been back at Hogwarts for a few weeks, and he already had work to do in every subject. Arithmancy was particularly difficult this term, from what he had heard from older students, and so he started with that and worked his way through to the easiest subject: Care of Magical Creatures.

*

As September faded away, and October took its place, the weather became windier. There were some days when Terry almost didn't envy Bradley and Chambers as they soared around the Quidditch pitch, trying not to be blown off course.

However, Terry's anger was now turned full time toward Umbridge and her new position as High Inquisitor. He was now having his wand confiscated at the beginning of every DADA class, and so he spent his time plotting ways of getting her sacked rather than read the stupid textbook.

"Oh, oh, oh!" Anthony raised his hand for silence and Michael and Terry stifled their laughter. "We could take one of the Thestrals in the forest and have it grab her and carry her away! I bet she's never seen death so it would be invisible to her!" Terry snorted and Michael choked on his butterbeer. It was a cold mid-October Friday night, and the three boys were sitting round the fire at four in the morning, drinking and eating sweets, doing homework, and most importantly, hypothetically torturing Professor Umbridge.

The Ravenclaw common room had long cleared, and all the candles were out except for the fire. Terry had his Herbology textbook open in his lap and was half labeling a picture of a Brazilian vanishing shrub and half trying to open a new packet of cauldron cakes with one hand and his teeth as he wrote with the other. He was leaning against the blue armchair that held his cloak and tie, which he had taken off an hour ago. Michael was lying on his back on the sofa in front of the fire and scanning a book of complicated runes and holding a tankard of butterbeer. Anthony was sprawled on the rug so close to the fire that one half of his face was flickering orange in the light and digging a hand into a bag of Bertie Bott's Beans. He was the only one not doing homework because he was the hardest working of the three and usually did his work t breaks so he could devote the rest of his time to half-hearted prefect duties.

"We could do tons of stuff to her." Terry said, finally ripping open the cauldron cake packet and sending the cakes flying in every direction. "But we'd need more people. I wish we could gather a bunch of people and just make this place hell for her and stuff."

"It'd be too hard to keep under the radar." Anthony pointed out, tossing up a bean and catching it in his mouth, only to gag and spit it back out.

"Yeah, 'cause having Thestrals carry her off would go totally unnoticed." Michael countered.

"Bugger off." Was all Anthony said in reply. Terry decided to jump in before it got out of hand.

"We couldn't do that anyway. We'd have to find the Thestrals, and only Hagrid knows where they are, and he isn't here. So unless you want to go scouting the forest for them…"

"You're taking it too literally, Boot." Michael said, slapping his runes dictionary shut and sitting up to put it back in his bag. Terry threw a cauldron cake at him, but then suddenly froze. Footsteps were coming down the staircase to the boys' dormitory.

All three of them stared at the foot of the stairs until the person came into view. Terry knew him by sight as a seventh year and a prefect, but couldn't think of a name to match the face, just like he'd forgotten Cho Chang's friend's name.

"Good Lord!" the prefect exclaimed. "Why aren't you in your rooms?"

"Because it's a weekend." Anthony pointed out, sitting up. The firelight caught a silver gleam on his chest and the prefect spotted it.

"And you're a prefect! A fine example you're setting here. Get to bed, all of you!"

"No way!" Terry could hardly believe this guy. It was Friday night, and they were at Hogwarts, there was no curfew once they were in the common room! "We aren't going anywhere just because some wanna-be Head Boy tells us to!"

"You will if you don't want me telling Professor Flitwick about this!"

Terry didn't really believe that this guy would go to Flitwick, and he also doubted that the head of his house would give a toss if a few students stayed up late at night, but Anthony was looking a bit guilty about not living up to the badge on his chest, and Michael was yawning anyways, so Terry packed up his things, grabbed his cloak and tie and headed up the stairs.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

For the rest of October, Terry could hardly control himself. His Defence Against the Dark Arts class was becoming torture. However, he had managed to keep himself in check. It was Jeremy Stretten, a sixth year, who had finally cracked and screamed at Umbridge that Ravenclaws were smart and she was supposed to be helping them, not making them stupider. Rumor had it that Umbridge had taken him into her office and murdered him, but Terry had walked past the hospital wing on the Tuesday of that week and seen Jeremy in there with his hand bandaged.

On the morning of Halloween, the Ravenclaws lessons took a very difficult turn. Professor McGonagall had them transfiguring more difficult object than ever, and Professor Sprout had them wrestling with a poisonous and very violent breed of cactus to prepare them for OWLs. All they had to do was extract some of their venom, but these plants had three foot long spikes and were nearly as big as a person. Anthony had bravely tackled one of the cacti and was beaten away and stuck with a spine in the arm. Terry and Michael had gone with him to the hospital wing, but Madam Pomfrey sent them away.

"He'll be a bit out of it for the rest of the day." She told them. "There's really no point staying." Behind her Anthony was making motorcycle sounds with his lips while lying on his bed.

And so it was with only Michael that Terry headed down to the Great Hall for lunch. They sat on the side of the table that was next to the Gryffindor table and were almost right across from Potter and his two friends. When they sat down, the three Gryffindors were arguing.

"Hermione, drop it, okay!" Potter was saying.

"Well, I still think it's a good idea! Come on, Ron, chime in here, won't you?"

"You know I'm on your side, but we can't _make _Harry agree." The redhead said, looking wary.

"Fine, Harry." Hermione said, giving in. "I told you I think we need a proper teacher and now you just think about it and I won't mention it again, okay!?"

Terry stopped listening after that and snatched a sandwich from the nearest platter. For some reason, he kept wanting to turn around and look at the Gryffindors. Shaking this urge away, he looked up at the high table. Umbridge was looking spectacularly like one of the jack-o-lanterns suspended in the air near her. Terry snorted and almost fell of his seat when he saw this. He forced himself to look away from her to prevent choking on his food.

"What?" Michael looked round. Terry tried to steady himself.

"Unbridge." He wheezed. Michael inhaled sharply, ready to explode with laughter but choked on his own food. A seventh year prefect sitting near them leaped to his feet and used his wand to clear Michael's airway. It was then that they decided to cut lunch short and head back to the common room.

*

The next day so they decided to go to the hospital wing to see if Anthony had been released yet. On their way past the library Terry glanced through the door and saw only two people inside studying. One was Anthony himself, and the other was a girl with brown hair; he couldn't see her face.

"Looks like Anthony's out." He nudged Michael and pointed into the library.

"Probably catching up on the work he missed yesterday. Hey Anthony." He called out as he crossed the threshold. Madam Pince glared at him and he snapped his mouth shut as Anthony looked up.

"Hey guys." Anthony said, dropping his quill. "What's up?"

"Mmm, not much." Michael replied, sitting down. "There's a Hogsmeade visit today." He put his elbow on the table and leaned on his hand.

"You _really _have to ask out Ginny already, mate. You've been staring wistfully at her for almost a year." Anthony snorted. At his, the other person in the library turned to look at them. Terry saw her and realized it was Hermione Granger. She smirked and turned back around. "Seriously." Anthony was saying. "Just ask her out. Terry, tell him he needs to ask her out. He doesn't listen to me. Terry?"

"Huh? What?" Terry looked back at his friends, only just realizing he had been staring at the back of Hermione Granger's head for almost a full minute. "Yes, go ask her out."

"She's probably in Hogsmeade already." Michael said evasively.

"She isn't, you know." Hermione had turned back around. Michael blinked at her.

"What?"

"She's in the Gryffindor common room."

"D'you think you could maybe get her to come down to the Great Hall?" Michael said hopefully. Hermione snorted and shook her head.

"I reckon Ginny wants someone who actually has the guts to ask her out himself." She said. Michael looked at her with his best puppy dog eyes.

"Come on, Granger." When Hermione still shook her head he turned to Anthony and Terry. "Guys, back me up!"

"Oh, come on, Hermione!" Anthony said. "Help out a pathetic guy like this one!" after this he looked at Terry, expecting him to say something. When he saw that Terry was just gazing in Hermione's direction with glazed eyes he leaned over and poked him. "Let's go, mate, get with it! You've been on another planet since we got here!"

"I…" Terry shook his head, trying to pull himself together. He saw Antony, Michael and Hermione staring at him. "I've got to go!" Jumping up, he snatched his back and made to rush out of the library, but tripped over his chair. He stumbled but managed to stay on his feet. The others were still looking at him. He pointed to the door to indicate leaving. "Elsewhere." He said stupidly, and left.

Halfway up a staircase to the fourth floor, Terry stopped to think. What had been wrong with him? His brain had clouded up back there and he' made a fool of himself, but why? He had been normal until he'd walked into the library. There were only two people in the library that could have affected him, and he was pretty sure it wasn't Michael. By now he had started walking up the stairs again, and it hit him. He felt something for Hermione Granger! He surprised himself so much that he tripped again on the stairs, got tangled in the strap on his bag and toppled back down the stairs.

*

"Guess who's going to the next Hogsmeade weekend!" Michael burst through the door into the Ravenclaw common room with his arms in the air like he'd just won an Olympic medal.

"We all are, Mike." Anthony said, not looking up from his sketch of a unicorn horn for Professor Grubbly-Plank.

"No, I mean, guess who's going with Ginny Weasley!" Anthony looked up. Terry grinned.

"Well done, mate." He said. "You finally worked up the guts to do it." Michael nodded proudly.

"You know it's not for a few weeks, right?" Anthony reminded him. Michael shrugged.

"It's not like I'll never see her before then."

And he was right. Michael spent nearly every waking moment with Ginny, strolling the windblown grounds, walking to classes hand in hand. Terry watched them, thinking of Hermione. He had so far decided that he was simply insane. Something inside him was convincing him that he wasn't really feeling these things, and that even if he was, Ron Weasley would probably take his head off if he asked Hermione out. He kept everything inside him, not telling anyone, even Anthony.

By the time the next Hogsmeade visit really did roll around, Michael was panicking. Terry woke on the morning of the visit to find Michael sitting without a shirt on staring into his trunk. Not really caring what Michael was doing, Terry got dressed himself, but once he had Michael hadn't moved an inch.

"What's up?" Terry asked, walking over to stand next to his friend.

"I have nothing to wear!" Michael said shakily. He turned a horrified face to Terry, who burst out laughing.

"You're being a prat." He chuckled. Michael still stared at him. "Oh, no," Terry said, still smiling. "There's no way I'm helping you get dressed. Only girls do that."

Nearly half an Hour later, Anthony and Terry entered the Great Hall with Michael. The three sat down at the table and Terry helped himself to several perfectly cooked pancakes while Ginny scuttled over to share Michael's bacon. Shortly after, Hermione Granger walked up to them and leaned in next to Ginny.

"Remember when I mentioned that we wanted to start a club to learn Defence?" she muttered to Ginny. Anthony and Terry leaned in to listen. "Well, Harry's gonna do it. Meet us in the Hog's Head around noon." She looked up and saw the other boys listening in. "You're welcome to come too."

"Of course we'll come!" Anthony said. "We don't want that old toad teaching us any more than you do!"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

As Terry and Anthony left the Hog's Head a few days later, it was with an air of rebellion. They had finally found a way to go against Umbridge and her non-magic reign. They could see Michael up ahead, hand in hand with Ginny Weasley, and with a look of triumph on his face.

"When was the first spell invented?" They were now standing at the door to the common room. Terry was stumped. They'd never talked about this in History of Magic. Luckily, Anthony was with him.

"At the same time the first wizard was born, which was as the beginning of time, if we're going by the Bible. Scientifically, there is no answer."

"Well stated." The door knocker trilled, and the door swung open.

The next morning Hogwarts awoke to an inch or so of frost clinging to everything. Terry hurried down to the Great Hall for breakfast late, having slept in and missing the alarm on his clock. The tables were nearly empty, and the bell was going to ring any moment. Terry had rushed over to the Ravenclaw table with the intention of grabbing a piece of toast and dashing back upstairs to Double Transfiguration when he spotted a platter of iced cinnamon rolls. After hovering for a moment between the toast and the rolls, Terry settled for quality rather than efficiency and grabbed a roll. Starting with the outside, he peeled it apart and ate it layer by layer. Just as he was finishing the bell rang. He realized he was the only one left in the Hall with a jolt and he set off at a run.

He burst through the Transfiguration door five minutes late, face and fingers still sticky. Professor McGonagall glanced up from her lesson.

"Five points from Ravenclaw, Mr Boot." She said with a jerk of her head towards his seat.

"Damn cinnamon rolls." Terry muttered as he sat down.

For the rest of the class Terry worked quietly, trying his best not to lose his house any more points. The Slytherins in the class were a rowdy bunch that morning, and Draco Malfoy was telling them what seemed to be a very funny story.

"Yeah, I asked Professor Umbridge this morning, and she gave us permission to restart eh team right away. Too bad th4e Gryffindors won't be able to play again!" He was saying. Confused, Terry leaned over to Anthony.

"What's he talking about?" He asked, nodding at Malfoy.

"You didn't see the new Educational Decree thing?" Anthony replied. "She's banned all teams and clubs!"

"What does this mean for the Defence group Potter and Granger and Weasley started?" Terry was shocked. Had Umbridge found them out already?

"I don't know." Michael leaned over. "I'm gonna ask them at lunch."

Terry could hardly concentrate during the second portion of the class when they had each been given a canary and were told to turn it into a quill. When the bell finally rang, Anthony and several other students had new yellow quills to write with, but Terry's still chirped annoyingly whenever he dipped it into a bottle of ink.

The three boys rushed down to the Great Hall at lunch to ask Potter what would happen, but the first thing he saw was Hermione Granger waving at them to go away. "Later!" she was mouthing. A moment later Ginny got up and came in their direction. She kissed Michael swiftly and turned to the others.

"Yeah, we'll still do it!" She said, a light of rebellion in her eyes. "We'll let you know the time and place soon"

*

However, it was nearly a full week later when Ginny came over to the Ravenclaw table at dinner one night and told them in a hushed voice about the Room of Requirement.

"I've used that place before!" Anthony said. "I bought a pink wig form Zonko's. If you put it on it turns your hair pink forever! I was going to slip it on Snape and see what happened but he found out I was up to something and I hid it there!"

Ginny laughed. She and Michael soon left the table to get in a little after dinner, pre-homework snogging in. At least that's what Terry assumed they were going to do. Shortly after this Terry and Anthony headed up to the common room to finish their homework before the meeting, but Terry couldn't concentrate. He was so excited about the prospect of pulling the wool over Umbridge's eyes that he mixed up moonstone and monkshood, confused the properties of stinksap with those of bubotuber pus and drenched his homework with water when he performed _**Aguamenti **_**instead of **_**Accio.**_ **After nearly an hour of this, Anthony snatched Terry's wand away from him. ** "**I think that's enough of the homework for you."** _**Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait and then the really short Chapter. I'll try to get back into the writing funk soon.**_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

When the time of the first defense meeting rolled around, Anthony had finished all his homework, and Terry had caused severe damage to his. Michael was still somewhere with Ginny, and Terry assumed they would be going there separately.

He and Anthony rolled up their homework, returned it to their bags, which they stowed in their dormitory. They then proceeded to leave the common room and down the staircase. Once out of their tower they dashed through the castle, hoping to avoid teachers, because they were sure Umbridge at least would put them in detention if she caught them.

"We need somewhere to learn Defense Against the Dark Arts." Now Terry was pacing rapidly back and forth in front of a blank wall on the seventh floor as Hermione had instructed. On the third walk past he heard a tiny pop and the door appeared. Anthony opened it and they walked inside.

"Wow!" Anthony exclaimed. They were two of the last people there; the others were already seated on cushions. Terry drew up one for himself and sat next to Michael, who was holding hands with Ginny on his other side.

Once everyone had arrived, Hermione got down to business. She proposed they name themselves. Terry had voted for the Anti-Umbridge League, but the motion was passed for the D.A. in the end.

"So, I reckon we should start with disarming." Potter started to say. "You know, _Expelliarmus._" Terry thought back to the last time he had used that spell. It had been his second year and he was partnered with Michael, who had brandished his wand too enthusiastically and his spell had hit Terry in the face. Terry remembered the nosebleed he'd had, and how he was told to go to the hospital wing and therefore missed the rest of meeting. Then afterward there were all those rumors about Potter speaking Parseltongue.

"Terry!" Blinking, Terry pulled himself out of his thoughts. Anthony was trying to pull him to his feet. People around them were already tentatively casting at each other. Quickly scrambling to his feet, Terry took his position a little ways away from Anthony and held his wand at the ready. "Expelliarmus!" Anthony called. Terry felt his wand jerk away from his hand, but he managed to cling to it.

"Go again." Terry said. Anthony did, brandishing his wand vigorously. This time Terry's wand managed to get out of his grasp and clatter to the floor, but it didn't quite have the grand effect some people around them were having. At that moment Katie Bell's wand shot out of her hand and his the ceiling with such force that sparks flew everywhere like a firework.

"You go now." Anthony told Terry, who had scooped his wand up from the floor.

"Expelliarmus!" Terry yelled. Anthony's wand jumped out of his hand and dropped to the floor.

"Good one, Terry." Potter called from across the room. Smiling now, Terry waited for Anthony to cast the spell back at him.

By the end of the meeting, both Terry and Anthony could cast the spell powerfully. They both thanked Potter and left, moving with much more caution than they had on their way to the meeting.

*

The next morning Terry was so tired that he added extra sugar to both his coffee and his cornflakes the next morning. He always slept badly after a day of excitement. He slept through Double History of Magic in the morning and set his hat on fire in Care of Magical Creatures after lunch while attempting to feed a fire crab. This caused several of the Hufflepuffs in his class to taunt him all the way up the sloping lawns to the Entrance Hall.

"At least I'll be awake in Potions." He said, stowing his still smoking pathetic excuse for a hat in his bag.

"Yeah." Michael snorted. "But it would be funny if Snape lit the rest of you on fire while you slept."

"I wouldn't out it past him" Terry muttered, Hitching his bag higher onto his shoulder and starting down the steps to the dungeons.

"Today we'll be brewing Veritaserum." Snape was in a much fouler mood than usual. "Our High Inquisitor needs a stock of it, and I have been instructed to have all my fourth year and above students brewing it. Hopefully, at least one of you morons will be able to get it right."

Terry had never tried to brew a more difficult potion. It was supposed to be milky and clouded, and then left to stew for nearly a moth. After that it was supposed to turn clear, but Terry's potion was stuck on a thundercloud-gray. Anthony's was lighter gray, but Michael's was a very light pink. The only person who managed to get it right by the end of the lesson was Mandy Brocklehurst, but Snape made no comment to her and simply criticized the rest.

At dinner that evening, Ron Weasley came up to them and let them know about the next meeting. For some reason he had his back turned to Michael and refused to answer when Michael asked what they would be doing in the next meeting.

*

The next week or so passed without great incident. Terry had long stifled his fear that Umbridge would find out about Dumbledore's Army. The magic coins Hermione Granger had produced worked perfectly, although there was one particularly frightening moment when Terry's had burned in his pocket as he was walking past Professor Umbridge. He had let slip a little gasp of pain and clutched the inside pocket of his robe instinctively. Umbridge had made him turn out his pockets, but found nothing unusual, and sent him on his way.

So far Terry had perfected a few spells he already knew, such as Reparo and Reducto. He had spent an entire meeting smashing and repairing one of the bookshelves. Terry also learned some new spells like Stupefy, and he was particularly looking forward to Patronuses, but once the holidays started he had other things on his mind.


	6. Chapter 6

_Author's Note: in this chapter, we get to learn a little more about Terry's appearance. There is no record of his physical appearance in the books, so I am basing it off of the fanart by Thanfiction, an incredible artist. Here is the link to a picture with him in it. Terry is the one standing on the far left._

_/picture/view/5750_

Chapter 6

Once the holidays settled over the castle with the snow, Terry had the run of Ravenclaw tower. His whole house had gone home for Christmas, but Terry's parents had gone to France to visit his sister, who played for one of the top Quidditch teams there.

Terry spent the first day or so of the holidays lounging around the common room. He had almost made the place his own personal bedroom. He didn't take his cloak up to the dormitory and he left his homework spread all over the tables for days on end. He always ate lunch and dinner late, and had taken to skipping breakfast altogether. It wasn't until the third day of the holidays, when he was sitting upside down on the couch, with his feet sticking over the top and his head hanging off the edge, brushing the carpet, that he saw another Ravenclaw.

He had been sitting in this position for the last quarter of an hour, shuffling a pack of Exploding Snap cards. He had been thinking about Hermione Granger. His D.A. Galleon was lying a few feet away and he stared at it. She truly was a brilliant witch. But she was dating Ron Weasley, wasn't she? Terry could never really tell. He had been debating with himself over whether or not he should ask her out, but had never reached a decision.

"Terry!?" A voice came from the staircase to the girls' dormitories. Terry attempted to leap to his feet, but all he really managed to do was topple head over heels from the couch onto the hearth. Scrambling up, he saw Lisa Turpin, a girl I his year standing at the foot of the stairs. She was wearing a pair of green and blue plaid pajama pants and a pink Weird Sisters t-shirt. "I didn't know you were here for the holidays!" She said. "How could we have missed each other the last two days?"

"I dunno." Terry said, trying to straighten his tie. "I've been hanging around here a lot."

"Same here." Lisa said. "But I've been up in my dormitory, catching up on reading, mostly." Terry nodded blankly, unable to think of anything else to move the conversation along. Lisa suddenly seemed to realize she had come downstairs for a reason. She held up a letter. "Want to come with me to the Owlery?" She asked. "I've got a letter to post."

"Me too." Terry said automatically. "Except that I don't have any letters to send." What was wrong with him? "Yeah, I'll come."

*

Christmas Eve found Terry lying on his back on the common room floor, staring up at the ceiling. A fly was buzzing around the room; Terry could see its little black shape flitting back and forth across his vision. He longed to swat it, but it was too high for him to reach, plus, he didn't want to get up. Taking careful aim with his wand, he shot a stunning spell at it. His spell missed and hit the ceiling. Frowning, he tried again, but kept missing. Within moments he was leaping around the common room, firing off spells as if he was in an imaginary duel.

Stripping off his cloak and loosening his tie, Terry rolled up his sleeves. "Watch out!" He shouted to his imaginary enemy, and leaped over the couch. Standing on the cushions he shot a reductor curse at the wall. It hit a tapestry and burned a hole through it. "Reparo!" He yelled. It wasn't until he was standing on the table with his homework under his feet that Lisa came back to the room. He heard the door creaking open and quickly scrambled off the table and flung his wand aside.

"Hi." Lisa said as she walked in, holding a package in her hands. She took in the common room, with the cushions from the chairs all over the place, to the footprints on Terry's homework, to Terry himself, panting and red in the face. "What the hell were you doing?" She asked, a smile playing at her lips.

"I—nothing." Terry said. "Nothing. What's in the package?" He stood up and started to clean the place while Lisa set down the package under the Christmas tree that had been erected two days previously.

"A gift from my mum." She told him. "She sent it over with an owl this morning." Glancing at the package, Terry wondered what it could be.

"What d'you think it is?" He asked.

"No idea." Lisa replied, sitting down in an armchair and loosening her own tie. "I expect it'll be something good; my mom always gets good gifts. Christmas should be fun."

"Hey!" said Terry, struck with a sudden idea. "You want to spend Christmas together? Like, not in our dormitories. We could bring our gifts down here and celebrate together."

"Good idea." Lisa agreed as she watched Terry clamber up the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw, to where his cloak rested, caught on one of the edges of the crown she wore.

They whiled away the rest of the afternoon playing chess and Exploding Snap. Lisa had wanted to play Gobstones, but Terry refused, having had a bad experience with the liquid that squirted from the stones.

When dinnertime approached, Terry went upstairs to get a clean cloak to wear when he spotted his reflection in the window.

"My God." He said. "How did my hair get so long?" Terry's blue eyes were obscured by the mop of blond hair falling from all over his head. He usually got his hair cut during the summer and once or twice during the year down in Hogsmeade, but in all the excitement, what with the D.A. and classes ending, he assumed he must have missed an appointment.

"Took you long enough!" Lisa was waiting at the bottom of the stairs for him. "Is your room really that messy?" Terry laughed and moved his hand up to this hair.

"I need a haircut." He said absently. He missed the glimmer of light that appeared in Lisa's eyes at his words.

"I'll cut it for you later." She said. "But we're going to miss dinner, so let's go."

"_You'll _cut my hair?" Terry snorted. "We haven't done Severing Charms in class since last year! I think you're a bit too out of practice." Lisa made a noise in her throat but didn't say anything.

After an enormous dinner of steak and mashed potatoes, Terry was ready to fall asleep at the Ravenclaw table. However, Lisa forced his to come with her back to the common room and sat him down in a chair.

"I could actually just fall asleep." Terry said, yawning. Lisa smiled. Closing his eyes, Terry's chin fell forward onto his chest and he slowly drifted off to sleep.

He dreamed that he had received an owl from Anthony saying that the whole D.A. had been killed, and that only Terry and Neville were left to run it. Terry had asked Anthony why he couldn't help as well, but his best friend replied "It's how it's supposed to be. You and Neville have to save Hogwarts!" Terry tried to protest that he wasn't good enough, and Neville could hardly hold his wand by the right end, but Anthony had jumped onto the back of a sphinx and was riding away. He then awoke with a start to the silent and dark Ravenclaw common room. He was still sitting in the armchair with his clothes on; Lisa was a little ways away, curled up on the couch with her cloak over her like a blanket. Terry immediately removed his own and swung it over himself. In the process, his hand brushed against his hair, and he let out a cry of surprise and sprang to his feet. Quickly raising his hands to his head, Terry felt all over. His hair had been cut! Visions of bald spots and comb-overs raced through his head, and he dashed up to his dormitory to check himself in the bathroom mirror.

He didn't have his wand on him, so he couldn't light the lamps, but as he skidded into the tiny bathroom off the dormitory he leaned in close to the mirror to see himself. Luckily, it was not nearly as disastrous as he thought it would be. In fact, he looked pretty good. His blond hair was very short, but not styled, like he had seen some Hufflepuff boys do to their hair (they looked like porcupines in Terry's mind). It was simply shorter, far out of his eyes. He thought he looked like the men in Muggle armies, with their hair buzz cut, but his wasn't quite that short. In fact, he couldn't think why he had always kept his hair so long. He liked it like this.

"Terry!" She said, as he stepped into the room. "I heard a yell…is everything okay?"

"Yeah." Terry replied, feeling a little ashamed. "I just…my hair."

"Do you like it?" Lisa grinned. Terry nodded, picked up his cloak and extracted his wand from it. He moved around the room, using Incendio to light each of the lamps and the fireplace until the room was blazing with warmth and soft light. Glancing down at his watch, he saw that it was nearly four in the morning. Looking back up he spotted a pile of presents heaped around the Christmas tree. Thinking back, he realized that he hadn't seen any gifts in his dormitory. The Hogwarts elves had delivered their gifts to the common room. With a half glance at Lisa, he moved towards them, and the next second Lisa had vaulted the back of the couch and as sitting right next to the heap of gifts. Scooping up the nearest one, she read out the tag.

"'To Terry, love mummy.'" She said, and tossed it to him.


End file.
